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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855980">Portfolio</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintOfAthena/pseuds/SaintOfAthena'>SaintOfAthena</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Banana Fish (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Photographs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:43:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,079</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintOfAthena/pseuds/SaintOfAthena</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Every photograph EIji takes of Ash has a special story behind but what they all have in common is his love and fascination for the American. Each one of them is a fragment of their love story. </p><p>or Ash and Eiji's love story told by some of the photos Eiji takes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Portfolio</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>After buying 'Angel eyes' and reading 'Garden of light' I came to realization that Ash was Eiji's muse. However that aspect is not developed in the anime and it's a shame so I decided to do something about it. Ash and Eiji are extremely interesting characters and writing them is pure bliss. I loved every second of it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Candid shots</p><p>Every photography technique highlights something unique and essential about human nature and the state of our emotions. However, the truth, in it’s absolute glory, can only be captured by candid shots, which explains Eiji’s neat preference for them. Beauty is that spark that we so seldom notice, that we attribute to the greatest pieces of art and genius of the world we live in when it’s actually always there, walking hands in hands with us, walking up next to us, sharing our lives, our tears and joy. A photograph captures that underestimated beauty we walk on and hold in contempt, it is the ultimate proof that beauty is always present but conjugated in the past tense, only recognized when it’s gone. He also thinks that candid shots suit Ash’s personalty and life the best, to caught him off guard was the work of the Gods. It made every snapshot ever the more precious. It meant victory against the monster of anxiety that controlled the American’s existence. </p><p>He hold the very first candid of Ash he ever took and the sweetness of the memory is laced with melancholy, the scene replays in his head like a movie so sad it leaves your heart heavy but that you keep watching over and over again:</p><p>It is noon, the sun is at it’s peak in the sky when it’s rival enters the room and sits around the table, his blond locks prisoner of a white towel turban and his chest bare. He still looks groggy in spite of having taken a shower because somethings never change. Quickly enough there’s a newspaper in his hands and he’s turning the pages like crazy, Eiji doesn’t hear much of the speech he so gracefully delivers while eating his breakfast. Perhaps it has nothing to do with Ash’s lack of manner, the real reason might be his artistic mind pestering him into doing something of the unique spectacle the gods are offering him. The Japanese gets up, unbeknownst to his partner, to put his hands on the arm of crime: his camera.</p><p>A photograph is swiftly taken.</p><p>“Hey-that’s illegal.” The blond screeches in false indignation. The laugh Eiji had been repressing finally escapes his lungs.</p><p>“If you wanted me to pose you could have asked.” </p><p>“Are you a model now?” Eiji’s laugh resumes with greater intensity when he sees’s Ash pout.</p><p>Ash gets up from the chair, puts away his bowl and leaps on the wooden table, he lets himself fall on it gracefully and noiselessly in a demonstration of ultimate smoothness. The photographer is intrigued as to what he plans on doing but amazed by his elegance, he takes his camera and places it at eye level scrutinizing Ash’s movements. The way he holds himself is  almost super human, every movement is full of grace and calculated, like a prima ballerina; but there is an underlying violence in his poses, that of a beast that doesn’t want to be touched. And in his eyes, sheer wantonness that brings out that hypnotic green.<br/> Eiji doesn’t take a single photo. The memory is enough. <br/>How many times had he been forced to act in such a fashion? To simulate lewdness and provocativeness so as to entertain the sick desires of men who were old enough to father him. God must be a fan of Nabokov’s novels. Eiji thinks of Lolita as her counterpart stands before him, a child whose innocence and childhood were ruthlessly stolen by devils and who had no other choice but to become the very embodiment of the oppressor’s fantasies. </p><p>He’s not foolish enough to see Ash as a victim, he’s too resourceful and resilient to be put in that box or in any other. He’s a force of nature but nevertheless crafted by the cruelty of his situation. Seeing him sprawled on the table like the finest meal is a grim reminder of how strong and broken he is. He snatched what was stolen from him from the hands of the devil and bears it with courage, uses it as a tool to bring his ennemis to their demise. But no child should have to go to such lengths to own their body and mind.  </p><p>“Ash, you don’t need to do all that.” It comes out angrier than he intended.</p><p>“Why not? I thought you needed a model.” He still has that look Eiji hates,. </p><p>“ Ash, It’s me. You don’t need to try and seduce me.” </p><p>“Yeah but those photos aren’t for you. Other people might like it.” He shrugs. </p><p>“My photos are a reflexion of my own feelings and perceptions.”</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“To me you’re more than a piece of ass and I want the world to see what I see.”</p><p>“What do you see?”</p><p>“Everything.”</p><p> </p><p>Eiji has a neat preference for candids. No seduction, no provocation, no act, no lies, just Ash, real and glorious and beautiful. He doesn’t have to be the greatest leader or entertain perverts or even protect himself when they’re together, he just has to be himself and that is when he is the most beautiful.</p><p>That day Eiji gets two photos of Ash, two different moods but the same kind of perfection. <br/>The first, of him in his natural environment, and the second, of him with a white towel over his shoulder and his left hand on his face, fingers slowly stroking his teary eyes and the prettiest shade of pink adorning his cheeks. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Chiaroscuro</p><p>Chiaroscuro, is the use in art, of strong contrasts between light and dark, it’s the technique Eiji would chose to describe his relationship with Ash. Or of Ash with anyone. In the first case, one would call him the light and Ash the darkness, their lives and stories don’t seem opened to any other interpretation. And yet Ash is no obscurity. Eiji thinks chiaroscuro suits Ash very well, the boy is a ray of light in the depths of hell, darkness and grief. Adversity makes him even more luminous and he reflects light like a diamond. This is how the Japanese, in his never-ending romanticism, pictures him. </p><p>It’s dark and quiet, they appreciate the crumbs of peace and silence the word gives them. They can almost hear each other breathe, a good reminder that everything is alright. The moon is out, huge like a hole getting ready to swallow up the world, and shiny. Ash is sitting on the wooden chair, one leg touching the ground and the other leg hugged closely to his chess, he’s starring at her and she stares back at him. He’s like a giant and radiant luster that attracts light. The moonlight is his personal projector, the world his stage. Sometimes art creates itself, so Eiji doesn’t need to do much, the world has rewarded them with peace and beauty.</p><p>“Ash don’t move.”</p><p>The blond complies without even asking a single question. Eiji gets to his equipment, he doesn’t do much, the rendition is unconditionally flawless already. Sure some editing will be needed to emphasize the contrast but other than that it’s breathtaking. Almost as breathtaking as the real scene. His art imitates Ash.</p><p> </p><p>Neon photo </p><p>Having a beauty like the American around comes in handy for several reasons; other than the great company and partnership, he provides the Japanese with artistic creativity and inspiration. Eiji treats him like his muse, and the blond doesn’t seem to mind the candid shots he taken of him every now and again or being asked to pause as a model.<br/>The image of Ash attracting light is stuck in his head like a bad song, the creative potential is so huge he can’t think of anything else. The red neon lamp that stands on the small table is making eyes at him and he lacks the willpower to ignore it.</p><p>“Ash, would you let me try something?” </p><p>“Depends on what.” Ash answers without lifting his face, he’s too busy using his cellphone, Eiji doesn’t know what he’s doing and he doesn’t care.</p><p>“Give me a second.” He leaps out of his chair and gets to the lamp that he then puts into his muse’s hand, to his grand confusion. Eiji’s mouvement are swift enough to take a kinetic photography. </p><p>“What’s going on?”</p><p>Eiji doesn’t answer, he’s too busy turning around and doing arrangements for his project he won’t speak about, Ash’s eyes are tired from trying to follow all the fast mouvements . After doing a 360 spin Eiji takes the lamp from Ash’s hands and plugs it into the first power outlet he finds. He hums softly. </p><p>“All is set.” The curtains are half-opened, just enough to not plunge the room into complete darkness, the lights are all out, except for the red light from the lamp.</p><p>“What about you explain what is going on?” </p><p>Eiji snaps his fingers and points in direction of the chair he placed near the outlet.</p><p>“Yes, Sir.” Ash rolls his eyes and drags his feet towards the chair. He’s fidgeting, in expectations of orders from the man kneeling behind the camera. “Do you want me to do something in particular? Honestly I’m way too good with you, doing this all for free.”</p><p>“I do the cooking, the laundry, the dishes, you name it.”</p><p>“Yeah, but I pay the bills.” He regrets the words once they’re out, he doesn’t feel like having that conversation. Some information is better left secret.</p><p>“By the way you-“</p><p>“Are you gonna take that damn photo or not?”</p><p>“I’m working on it.” <br/>There is a pause, Eiji doesn’t want to open Pandora’s box but he’s still tempted to touch it. Sometimes he feels guilt, using Ash as a model when his past is one of objectification. The last thing he wants is the American to believe he is fixated on his physical appearance.<br/> Art is a mean to accentuate what the eye sees but ignores. Ash is a light spectrum, a personality so rich and multi dimensional but put in a single box. Eiji’s camera is the prism that divides the white light and uncovers all the colors of the rainbow to show them to the world. But that only If Ash lets him.</p><p>“Eiji, stop torturing yourself.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I know you. When you do that face it means something is bothering you and most of the time it has something to do with my stupid ass.”</p><p>Spot on.</p><p>“If you don’t feel confortable doing all this we can stop right now. Just say the word.” Eiji murmurs.</p><p>“If I didn’t trust you I wouldn’t be sitting here. Now please take that photo so I can move, wood is uncomfortable.” Ash looks fierce and trusting, it’s perfect.</p><p>“Done.” The Japanese smiles.</p><p>“How? When did you take it?”</p><p>“A wanted a prism photo cause I think red suits you but I often forget how candid shots suit you the best. Now I got two-in-one.” He snickers in victory.</p><p>“You deceitful little shit.” Ash leaps out of the chair. “Let me see the photo when you’re done.”</p><p>“Alright.” </p><p> </p><p>The photo is never published. <br/>Ash hates it so much he makes Eiji promise to never show it to anyone. <br/>Eiji always thought the color red suited Ash, it creates a great contrast with his light hair and eyes but the American sees things from a different light. The red reminds him of blood, the darkness of evil. He hates the red light in his eyes, it makes him look like a devil. Eiji puts it away, it pains him but he understands. One day he’ll show it to Ash and ask him what he sees, he crosses his fingers, hoping that in the future the genius will finally see what he does. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Bokeh</p><p>Bokeh is the art of blurring, the surroundings and keeping the essential. Eiji’s first bokeh of Ash is more of a treat to himself than anything else, a secret love confession to the boy he loves.<br/>They’re walking together, under the same umbrella as it pours. The aesthetic is pleasant, the atmosphere romantic. The mood is perfect for a photo. Ash is glorious as always, blue hours suit him, but then again is there anything that doesn’t? <br/>Eiji made an habit out of taking his camera with him wherever he goes, Ash is everywhere and beauty follows with him. Eiji takes a few step back and pulls out his polaroid.</p><p>“Do you mind if I take a picture?”</p><p>“It’s raining Eiji ! Why are artists so whimsical?” </p><p>“The sky looks beautiful, you do to.”</p><p>“Eiji stop with the flirting.” He growls, earning a light chuckle from the young Japanese. </p><p>“I’m not flirting. I’m stating facts.” He smiles.</p><p>“Well, stop stating facts and come back here, you’ll catch a cold.” When Ash starts coming toward him, he takes a few steps backwards, like a brat.</p><p>“Aren’t you supposed to be the mature one?” The mild annoyance in his voice encourages Eiji to keep on irking him. His smile is now a smirk, reeking of mischief. </p><p>“Eiji.” Ash reaches out his arm to grab him but he escapes. </p><p>“Your reflexes are getting good.” </p><p>“It’s because I’m stuck with you.” Eiji teases.</p><p>Their banter goes on for what seems like an hour, Eiji a mouse and Ash a cat as they playfully try to catch or escape each other in the streets of New York. The last rays of light are kissing the city goodbye as they slowly let darkness take over.</p><p>“It’s almost dark, let me take a photo Ash!” </p><p>“Over my dead body.”<br/> The tables are now turned, Ash shields himself with the blue umbrella so that no photo will be taken. But that is not enough to break Eiji’s spirit, he breaks the distance between them in a single vault and takes advantage of the element of surprise to snatch away the umbrella, leaving Ash naked and defeated.</p><p>“Looks like you found me.” He lifts his hands like a criminal caught red-handed.</p><p>“You can’t hide from me Ash, You’re all that I can see.” </p><p>And that is what he takes a photo of, the world around doesn’t exist anymore, it’s only the two of them. Ash can try and hide, be it under an umbrella or behind great speeches and fierceness but Eiji will always find him. </p><p> </p><p>Lifestyle </p><p>It’s 9 o’clock in the morning, a risen and shining Eiji enters the bedroom and is greeted with a view he’ll never get sick of: a sleeping Ash. The monster is so quiet and peaceful he looks a few years younger or like an angel, but strangely enough, the second analogy makes Eiji uneasy, he drops it. When Ash is asleep, the world could collapse and he wouldn’t even notice a thing. But hey, isn’t his world messy enough as it is? Perhaps sleep is an escape, a well deserved one. Eiji should wake him up but he doesn’t have the guts to. The smile on the younger boy’s face is so rare and unique that his instincts urge him to protect it at all costs. He takes his cellphone out of his pocket and opens the camera application to capture the moment. </p><p>“Never knew you were a pervert Eiji.” The Japanese lets out a gasp of surprise. Ash has such a ruthless awareness of his surroundings.</p><p>“I’m not a pervert, I’m an artist.”</p><p>“Same thing. Sometimes the beauty of their creation is nothing compared to the ugliness of their vice. ” He sits up.”Were you that impatient to have a photo? You could have waited for me to wake up.” He teases, hoping to dissipate the feeling of unease be brought in the room. Eiji takes the hint.</p><p>“Not quite. Just, you have such a big mouth it’s good to have you shut up from time to time.”</p><p>“I just woke up and you’re being rude for no reason.” Ash pouts. </p><p>“I’m not rude, you’re cute when you’re quiet.” </p><p>“Do you think my bedhead is cute too?” He asks with irony.</p><p>“You look peaceful when you actually sleep.” ‘The actually’ is said with gravity but the blond doesn’t comment on it. Eiji let’s it go, it is too early for angst. Or for anything else for that matter. He looks at that sea of white sheets in which his muse is buried, the younger boy is bare-chested , light blue shorts as his only garment.<br/>Some of the photos he has taken exhale such great charm and sensuousness it would be a lie to call the American modest, yet Eiji can’t help but think he was chosen by the Gods. Whereas fumbling with the thin line separating sexualisation and objectification, even in art, may be hazardous, Eiji always keeps his bearing. Every kiss and caress falls in line, they are never misplaced. To be able to use Ash’s image and be around him when he’s half naked and messy is an absolute demonstration of trust from the younger boy. The first time he took a candid of him he became painfully aware of what he refused to see, of the part photography had played in Ash’s anguish and how he had learned to own his sexuality after it was stolen from him. It’s ironically beautiful that he’d trust a photographer enough to have photo’s of him sleeping half naked taken. It’s intimate in the purest way. The guilt he felt about having Ash as a muse isn’t there anymore,  he only has butterflies in his stomach and stars in the eyes. God knows it’ll be a cold day in hell before Ash makes him feel anything else. Every moment of domestic bliss and playful banter with Ash is a blessing. To be able to follow that teenager so many people worship but will never really know. His arms, that safe haven meant only for Ash will always be open, waiting for him to come home. </p><p>Eiji sits down close to him and lies his head on a wan shoulder. He sighs happily.</p><p>“It’s still kind of early.”. Eiji only hums in response, he’s not listening.<br/>Ash lets his body fall into the large bed, taking Eiji with him.<br/>They’re half asleep, half thinking about what the future has in store for them but wholly thankful for everything and nothing at the same time. A photo of them would have it’s place in a lifestyle magazine, that’s what Eiji thinks. He however knows that no photograph could ever rival the beauty of this very instant so he enjoys it, to the fullest.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Honestly, I don't know a lot about photography so I documented myself in order to write something that makes sense. I selected five styles I really liked and decided to write my fanfiction around them. Every and each one of them highlights something different and has a particular meaning: a photo in bokeh style wouldn't be the same in chiaroscuro, and that's what makes art such a beautiful thing. Ash is a multilayered individual but most people only see what he wants them to see and that's why Eiji is so important. He knows Ash and loves everything about him. Art is also a way to make people see things through a different lense. </p><p>I hope you enjoyed it.<br/>tell me in comments which little story you liked the most! I had the most fun writing the first one but I like the bokeh better (I think?)</p><p>Take care :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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